John Akinde

John Akinde

Akinde in March 2017
Personal information
Full name	Job Ayo Akinde [1]
Date of birth	(1989-07-08) 8 July 1989 (age 35) [2]
Place of birth	Camberwell, England [3]
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) [4]
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Braintree Town
Number	24
Youth career
000?–2007	Gravesend & Northfleet
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Ebbsfleet United	23	(8)
2007	→ Whitstable Town (loan)
2007	→ Margate (loan)	7	(0)
2007	→ Whitstable Town (loan)	9	(7)
2008–2011	Bristol City	16	(1)
2009	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	11	(7)
2009–2010	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	6	(1)
2010	→ Brentford (loan)	2	(0)
2010–2011	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	14	(0)
2011	→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	9	(2)
2011–2013	Crawley Town	31	(1)
2012	→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	5	(0)
2013	Portsmouth	11	(0)
2013–2014	Alfreton Town	43	(18)
2014–2018	Barnet	166	(87)
2018–2020	Lincoln City	68	(20)
2020–2022	Gillingham	71	(9)
2022–2024	Colchester United	79	(9)
2024–	Braintree Town	12	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:25, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Job Ayo Akinde (born 8 July 1989), known as John Akinde, is an English professional footballer who plays for National League club Braintree Town.

He previously played for Barnet from 2014 to 2018 and for Lincoln City from 2018 to 2020. In the 2014–15 season, he led the Conference Premier league in scoring, helping Barnet win the league. In the 2018–19 season, he led Lincoln City in scoring, helping them win League Two.

Career

Akinde's youth career started at Tottenham.^{[ citation needed ]} Akinde played for Ebbsfleet United where he was a graduate of the club's academy under their previous name, Gravesend and Northfleet. In 28 league appearances for Gravesend/Ebbsfleet, Akinde scored 10 goals, he also won the FA Trophy with Ebbsfleet in the season before joining Bristol City, laying on the winning goal in the final at Wembley against Torquay United. He had a loan spell at Margate and two loan spells at Whitstable Town. ^[5]

Bristol City

In 2008, Akinde was sold to Bristol City for £140,000 following the first ever transfer decided by a fans poll, in this case by the members of MyFootballClub. ^[6]

Akinde playing for Bristol City in January 2010

He scored on his debut for Bristol City in a 2–2 draw against Plymouth Argyle. ^[7] Later in the season, Akinde signed for an initial month on loan to Wycombe Wanderers, on 11 March 2009. He also scored on his Wycombe debut, netting twice against Brentford in a 3–3 draw. Further goals against Barnet and Darlington led to the loan deal being extended until the end of the season.

On 13 November 2009, he returned to Wycombe Wanderers on a month's loan, this later being extended to two months, but he was recalled early by Bristol City on 7 January 2010. On 1 February 2010, Akinde joined Brentford on a month's loan, making two league appearances, one of which against former loan club Wycombe Wanderers.

He went out on loan for a fourth time in August 2010 when he joined Bristol Rovers in a deal scheduled to last until 5 January. ^[8] In January 2011 Akinde joined Dagenham & Redbridge on loan until the end of the season. ^[9]

Crawley Town

On 27 May 2011, newly promoted Crawley Town beat off higher league competition to sign Akinde for the 2011–12 season. ^[10] He scored his first league goal for Crawley Town away to Shrewsbury Town at the New Meadow on 27 February 2012. ^[11] On 17 March 2012, Akinde joined fellow League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge on loan for the remainder of the season, along with Charlie Wassmer. ^[12] However, on 12 April 2012, Crawley recalled Akinde and fellow loanee Charlie Wassmer, to their push for promotion from League Two.

On 31 January 2013, Akinde was released by Crawley. ^[13] On 8 February, he joined Portsmouth in a month-to-month contract. ^[14] He made his debut a day later, against Bournemouth. ^[15]

Akinde was released by Portsmouth at the end of the season, after failing to score in his 11 appearances for Pompey. He signed for Alfreton Town in August 2013 on a one-year contract. ^[16] He made his debut against Kidderminster Harriers before scoring a hat-trick in his second game as Alfreton beat Salisbury City 3–2. ^[17] He scored 18 goals in 42 league gamesthat season.

Barnet

Akinde joined Barnet on a two-year deal on 24 May 2014. ^[18] In his first season for the club he scored 31 league goals making him the division's top goal scorer, as Barnet won the Conference Premier. In the 2015–16 season, Akinde scored 23 goals, helping the team to a 15th-placed finish and finishing as the 3rd top goal scorer in the League. At the end of the season, Akinde signed a three-year deal. ^[19] On 22 April 2017, Akinde scored his 48th English Football League goal for the Bees to become their highest-ever League goalscorer, surpassing Sean Devine's record. ^[20] He was transfer-listed by Barnet at the end of the 2017–18 season. ^[21]

2018–present

On 6 July 2018, Akinde signed a three-year deal with League Two club Lincoln City, ^[22] and top scored for the Imps in the 2018–19 season as they won League Two. ^[23]

On 24 January 2020 he joined League One side Gillingham for an undisclosed fee. ^[24] He made his debut for the club the following day in a 2–2 away league draw against Rochdale, where he provided an assist for Gillingham's second goal. ^[25] Akinde attracted interest in the January 2021 transfer window from Exeter City but nothing materialised and he remained at Gillingham. ^[26]

On 27 January 2022, Akinde reached a mutual agreement with Gillingham to terminate his contract and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with EFL League Two side Colchester United. ^[27] He made his league debut for the Essex side two days later, appearing as a 66th minute substitute in 1–1 home draw against Swindon Town and providing an assist for the 92nd-minute equaliser by teammate Emyr Huws. ^[28]

On 8 May 2024, the club announced he would be released in the summer when his contract expired. ^[29]

After being released by Colchester United, Akinde joined National League side Braintree Town. ^[30]

Personal life

Akinde was born in Camberwell, South London and is of Nigerian descent. ^[31] Akinde's brother Sam (born 1993) has also played at Ebbsfleet, Alfreton and Barnet. The brothers have played together at the latter two clubs. ^[32]

Career statistics

As of end of 2023–24 season

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ebbsfleet United	2007–08 [33]	Conference Premier	18	6	0	0	—		4 [a]	0	22	6
	2008–09 [34]	Conference Premier	5	2	0	0	—		0	0	5	2
	Total		23	8	0	0	—		4	0	27	8
Margate (loan)	2007–08 [35]	Isthmian Premier	7	0	0	0	—		0	0	7	0
Whitstable Town (loan)	2007–08 [35]	Isthmian Division One South	9	7	0	0	—		0	0	9	7
Bristol City	2008–09 [34]	Championship	7	1	0	0	0	0	—		7	1
	2009–10 [36]	Championship	7	0	2	0	2	0	—		11	0
	2010–11 [37]	Championship	2	0	0	0	1	0	—		3	0
	Total		16	1	2	0	3	0	—		21	1
Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	2008–09 [34]	League Two	11	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	7
	2009–10 [36]	League One	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
	Total		17	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	8
Brentford (loan)	2009–10 [36]	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2010–11 [37]	League One	14	0	1	0	0	0	3 [b]	0	18	0
Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	2010–11 [37]	League One	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	2
Crawley Town	2011–12 [38]	League Two	25	1	2	0	1	0	1 [b]	0	29	1
	2012–13 [39]	League One	6	0	3	0	1	0	1 [b]	0	11	0
	Total		31	1	5	0	2	0	2	0	40	1
Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	2011–12 [38]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Portsmouth	2012–13 [39]	League One	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Alfreton Town	2013–14 [40]	Conference Premier	43	18	2	1	—		0	0	45	19
Barnet	2014–15 [40]	Conference Premier	45	31	3	2	—		1 [a]	0	49	33
	2015–16 [41]	League Two	43	23	2	0	2	1	1 [b]	0	48	24
	2016–17 [42]	League Two	46	26	0	0	1	0	1 [c]	0	48	26
	2017–18 [43]	League Two	32	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	7
	Total		166	87	5	2	3	1	3	0	177	90
Lincoln City	2018–19 [44]	League Two	45	15	3	1	2	1	2 [c]	0	52	17
	2019–20 [45]	League One	23	5	1	0	2	0	3 [c]	3	29	8
	Total		68	20	4	1	4	1	5	3	81	25
Gillingham	2019–20 [45]	League One	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
	2020–21 [46]	League One	44	7	2	0	2	0	3 [c]	0	51	7
	2021–22 [47]	League One	18	1	2	0	0	0	1 [c]	0	21	1
	Total		71	9	4	0	2	0	4	0	81	9
Colchester United	2021–22 [47]	League Two	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
	2022–23 [48]	League Two	36	5	1	0	2	0	2 [c]	2	41	7
	2023–24 [49]	League Two	28	2	0	0	1	1	1 [c]	0	30	3
	Total		79	9	1	0	3	1	3	2	86	12
Career total			571	170	24	4	17	3	24	5	636	182

1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
2. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Ebbsfleet United

• FA Trophy: 2007–08 ^[50]

Wycombe Wanderers

• Football League Two third-place promotion: 2008–09 ^[51]

Crawley Town

• Football League Two third-place promotion: 2011–12 ^[52]

Barnet

• Conference Premier: 2014–15 ^[53]

Lincoln City

• EFL League Two: 2018–19 ^{[54] [55]}

Individual

• Conference Premier Player of the Month: December 2014 ^[56]
• Conference Premier Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[57]
• Barnet Player of the Year: 2014–15, ^[58] 2016–17 ^[59]
• Barnet Player's Player of the Year: 2014–15, ^[58] 2016–17 ^[59]
• Non-League Footballer's Association Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[60]
• Conference Premier Team of the Year: 2014–15 ^[61]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2018–19 League Two ^[62]

References

1. "EFL – Squad List 2023/24: Colchester United – In Squad Players" (PDF). English Football League. p. 106. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
2. "Football (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
3. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 458. ISBN   978-0-7553-6356-8.
4. "John Akinde". Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
5. "John Akinde". margatefootballclubhistory.com. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
6. Sinnott, John (29 August 2008). "Supporters approve sale of player". BBC. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
7. Dulin, David (1 October 2008). "Bristol City 2–2 Plymouth: John Akinde sparks Robins revival on debut". Mirror. MGN Limited. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
8. "Akinde joins on loan". Bristol Rovers F.C. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
9. "John Akinde makes Dagenham & Redbridge loan switch". BBC Sport. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
10. http://www.crawleytownfc.com/newsdetails.php?ID=2048 ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
11. "Shrewsbury v Crawley". BBC Sport. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
12. "Dagenham & Redbridge sign John Akinde & Charlie Wassmer". BBC Sport. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
13. "Striker Akinde released by Crawley". Crawley and Horley Observer. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
14. "Therry Racon, Patrick Agyemang, John Akinde join Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
15. "Bournemouth 2–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
16. "ALFRETON TOWN BRING IN STRIKER AKINDE". Alfreton Town Football Club. Alfreton Town Football Club. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
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18. "Barnet Sign John Akinde". Barnet Football Club. 24 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
19. "John Akinde signs a new deal with the Bees!". Barnet Football Club. Barnet Football Club. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
20. "Eames – "They're a fantastic group of men to coach & a credit to the club."". barnetfc.com. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
21. "John Akinde: Barnet put striker on transfer list after relegation to National League". BBC Sport. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
22. "Akinde joins the Imps". redimps.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
23. Hewitt, Matty (24 January 2020). "John Akinde leaves Lincoln City for Gillingham". lincolnshirelive. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
24. "John Akinde: Gillingham sign Lincoln City striker for an undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
25. "Rochdale v Gillingham". BBC. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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27. "U's snap up Akinde". Colchester United FC. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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29. "Colchester United: John Akinde among four players released". BBC Sport. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
30. "John Akinde signs for National League club after Colchester United exit". Gazette. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
31. Akpom fires Hull City ahead in Capital One CupAfrican Football Archived 11 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine
32. "Akinde brothers dismantle Hungerford". Times Series. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
33. "Games played by John Akinde in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
34. "Games played by John Akinde in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
35. "All Competitions: Player's Appearances – John Job Akinde". football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
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40. John Akinde at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
41. "Games played by John Akinde in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
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43. "Games played by John Akinde in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
44. "Games played by John Akinde in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
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47. "Games played by John Akinde in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
48. "Games played by John Akinde in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
49. "Games played by John Akinde in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
50. "Ebbsfleet 1-0 Torquay". BBC. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
51. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2009). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009–2010. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 45, 420–421. ISBN   978-0-7553-1948-0.
52. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 37, 160–161. ISBN   978-0-7553-6356-8.
53. Anderson, John, ed. (2015). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2015–2016. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 632–633. ISBN   978-1-4722-2416-3.
54. "League Two: 2018/19: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
55. "Lincoln: Squad details: 2018/19". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
56. "Akinde named December Player of the Month". Barnet F.C. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
57. "The National League on X". Twitter. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
58. "Player of the Year Awards go off with a bang!". Barnet F.C. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
59. "POTY Awards 2017 – The Winners!". Barnet F.C. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
60. "National Game Awards – The NLFA Player of the Year: John Akinde". The Non-League Paper. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
61. "FOOTBALL: Parkin named in Conference Team of the Year". Gazette Series. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
62. "PFA League Two Team Of The Year 24 News posted: 24/04/2019". thepfa.com. Retrieved 7 September 2019.

External links

• John Akinde profile at Alfreton Town F.C.
• John Akinde at Soccerbase
• Job Ayo Akinde at Soccerbase